The history of "The Castle" is cloudy; there are conflicting accounts of dates and residents, so we just have to pick one version and stick with it until someone convinces us of a better theory.
 
While some reports date the creation of the house as 1871, it did not appear on the 1888 map. Henry R. East is first listed at this address in the 1891 city directory. Mr. East was the proprietor of Henry R. East, Meats and Provisions on Front Street. I like to think of him as a Wegman prototype. I can almost see him standing behind the meat counter with his handlebar moustache, in a clean white apron and his hair parted in the middle and slicked down with bear grease.
Rumor has it that Mr. East spent $40,000 to build this house, a princely sum in that day, when bread cost 3 cents a loaf and the average income was $635 a year.
In 1903, the property was purchased by Charles Bergener, general superintendent of the C. T. Ham Lantern Company. He was a native of Hanover, Germany, and had come to Rochester in 1881 via Chicago, where he had worked for the Dennis and Wheeler Lantern Company.
The Ham Company was one of the largest and most completely equipped companies of its type in the world. Lanterns were big business in the days before electric power was available at the flick of a switch. Charles Ham, the founder of the company, also lived in the Edgarton neighborhood. His spectacular Second Empire home formerly stood at 98 Jones Avenue and was the subject of an early photograph by George Eastman.
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The house as it appeared in 1911 in the book
The City of Rochester and Vicinity
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In 1921, Dr. John Connor purchased the property and it was during his tenure that many of the changes were made to the decor. We believe that during that period the ornate stained glass windows were added to the turret and elsewhere and the extravagant fireplace was installed in the parlor. We also believe that Dr. Connor redid the diningroom in the Arts and Crafts tradition, with stunning results. The Doctor must have been very successful, as these changes, made with the very best materials and craftsmanship, had to have been very expensive indeed.
Frank Seamen, a general contractor, owned the house and lived here with his family from the 1940's until 1974. We think that he, or some skewed member of his family, was responsible for the "creative" decorating that happened sometime around the 60's. Hard to believe that anyone could have poured over samples, chosen, and swooned over the silver and turquoise wallpaper and the acres of flocking.
The Young family, who owned a flower shop, purchased it from him and lived here until shortly before we bought it in 2004. Now it's our turn. We hope to be good stewards. |
